Written Answers Tuesday 24 February 2009

Scottish Executive

Animal Welfare

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of animal cruelty offences in each year since 1999, broken down by police force area.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table.

  Persons Proceeded Against, where the Offence Category Specifically Relates to Offences Involving Cruelty to Animals, 1999-2000 to 2006-07

  

 Police Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Central 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1
 2


 Charge proved
 1
 5
 2
 2
 5
 1
 3
 1


 Total
 1
 5
 2
 2
 5
 1
 4
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 -
 1
 -
 2
 3
 4
 -
 2


 Charge proved
 7
 2
 3
 1
 2
 3
 2
 2


 Total
 7
 3
 3
 3
 5
 7
 2
 4


 Fife 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 1
 2
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Charge proved
 2
 2
 -
 1
 1
 3
 1
 3


 Total
 3
 4
 -
 1
 1
 3
 1
 3


 Grampian 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 -
 1
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -
 2


 Charge proved
 1
 6
 2
 4
 8
 3
 9
 4


 Total
 1
 7
 2
 4
 9
 3
 9
 6


 Lothian and Borders 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 1
 1
 -
 1
 -
 2
 1
 2


 Charge proved
 8
 3
 2
 2
 3
 -
 9
 10


 Total
 9
 4
 2
 3
 3
 2
 10
 12


 Northern 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 7
 1
 1
 3
 -
 2
 -
 -


 Charge proved
 4
 7
 7
 6
 9
 12
 14
 5


 Total
 11
 8
 8
 9
 9
 14
 14
 5


 Strathclyde 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 5
 4
 5
 1
 3
 3
 2
 7


 Charge proved
 16
 13
 18
 14
 10
 23
 13
 41


 Total
 21
 17
 23
 15
 13
 26
 15
 48


 Tayside 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 -
 3
 1
 1
 1
 1
 -
 -


 Charge proved
 8
 4
 4
 2
 5
 2
 1
 2


 Total
 8
 7
 5
 3
 6
 3
 1
 2


 Scotland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 No charge proved
 14
 13
 7
 8
 8
 12
 4
 15


 Charge proved
 47
 42
 38
 32
 43
 47
 52
 68


 Total
 61
 55
 45
 40
 51
 59
 56
 83



  Note: 1. Includes the following crime categories: (a) Cruelty to animals (ex dogs) including killing and maiming cattle; (b) Cruelty to Dogs, and (c) Cruelty to wild animals.

Apprenticeships

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether modern apprenticeships would continue to be paid at up to £55 per week if the Get Ready for Work programme is replaced by an Educational Maintenance Allowance of £30.

Fiona Hyslop: The £55 per week training allowance, available to Get Ready for Work participants and non-employed Skillseekers, does not apply to the modern apprenticeship programme. The conclusions of the consultation will not therefore impact on the modern apprenticeship programme.

Autism

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that children with autism and their parents are fully involved in the planning and provision of appropriate education and support.

Adam Ingram: Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning)(Scotland) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act), education authorities have a duty to actively seek and take account of the views of children with additional support needs, including autism, and those of their parents. This strengthens children’s rights to be involved in the planning and provision of appropriate education and support. Guidance to education authorities on implementing these duties successfully is provided in the supporting children’s learning code of practice.

  The Scottish Government also provides substantial funding to support Enquire whose key aims include outreach work to support effective implementation of the 2004 act and to look at new improved ways to raise awareness of parental and children’s rights including an increased involvement in educational planning and provision.

  The 2006 Parental Involvement Act requires education authorities to draw up a strategy to involve parents in their child’s education. The guidance to this act states that education authorities should make clear links and build on their duties to parents under the 2004 Act.

  The Scottish Government will publish shortly The Autism Toolbox. This training and information resource will support teachers in schools and assist education authorities to plan services more effectively. It includes a specific focus on support for practitioners to better work in partnership with parents and families to ensure the best possible outcomes for all children with autism.

  The Scottish Government has published guidance for commissioners of health and social care services for people with autism which recommends that local authorities and health boards work in partnership to involve people with autism in planning services.

Central Heating

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households rely on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) for heating, broken down by local authority area.

Alex Neil: There are about 19,000 households in Scotland that rely on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as their main source of heating fuel – about 0.8% of occupied dwellings. Table 1 shows the number of households relying on LPG by local authority area.

  Table 1: Estimate or count of households who use LPG as the main heating system by Local Authority and associated 95% confidence intervals:

  

 Local Authority
 SHCS Estimate or HEED Count of LPG Households
 Source
 95% Confidence Interval SHCS Minimum
 95% Confidence Interval SHCS Maximum


 Aberdeen
 100
 2
 na
 na


 Aberdeenshire
 4,620
 1
 2,130
 7,100


 Angus
 560
 1
 130
 1,170


 Argyll and Bute
 1,160
 1
 450
 2,110


 Clackmannanshire
 80
 1
 50
 250


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1,430
 1
 230
 2,640


 Dundee
 20
 2
 na
 na


 East Ayrshire
 30
 2
 na
 na


 East Dunbartonshire
 20
 2
 na
 na


 East Lothian
 250
 1
 140
 690


 East Renfrewshire
 10
 2
 na
 na


 Edinburgh
 350
 1
 40
 1,050


 Eilean Siar
 160
 1
 60
 340


 Falkirk
 70
 2
 na
 na


 Fife
 360
 1
 130
 1,120


 Glasgow
 20
 2
 na
 na


 Highland
 2,500
 1
 750
 4,250


 Inverclyde
 10
 2
 na
 na


 Midlothian
 150
 1
 110
 400


 Morayshire
 520
 1
 60
 1,050


 North Ayrshire
 210
 1
 40
 700


 North Lanarkshire
 470
 1
 40
 1,140


 Orkney
 30
 2
 na
 na


 Perth and Kinross
 2,550
 1
 1,040
 4,070


 Renfrewshire
 30
 2
 na
 na


 Scottish Borders
 620
 1
 250
 1,330


 Shetland
 50
 1
 10
 120


 South Ayrshire
 440
 1
 50
 1,020


 South Lanarkshire
 1,130
 1
 120
 2,720


 Stirling
 760
 1
 190
 1,330


 West Dunbartonshire
 230
 1
 10
 580


 West Lothian
 490
 1
 30
 1,230


 Scotland
 19,090
 1
 14,900
 23,270



  Source: 1 = SHCS; 2 = HEED.

  na = not applicable.

  The figures are estimates from a sample of about 9,000 households included in the Scottish House Condition Survey between October 2003 and September 2006. Because they are survey estimates, the figures have associated confidence intervals – also shown.

  A very small proportion of households rely on LPG and so, in some areas, the survey sample did not include any such households. In those areas, figures from the Energy Savings Trust’s Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) have been used. They show the minimum number of LPG-reliant households in an area.

  We usually quote the SHCS survey figures to the nearest 1,000 households but then HEED data and some SHCS minima would show up as "0" even though some LPG systems are present in those local authorities. Therefore figures are only rounded to the nearest 10 LPG systems.

Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people received an education maintenance allowance of (a) £10 and (b) £20 in each of the last three years.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table presents the number of school pupils and further education college students who received education maintenance allowance (EMA) support in the £10 and £20 categories in academic years 2005-06 to 2007-08.

  

 Level of Payment
 Academic Year


 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08


 Number of Students


£10
 3,760
 3,560
 3,430


£20
 3,600
 3,925
 3,965


 Total
 7,360
 7,485
 7,395



  Notes:

  1. Student numbers have been rounded up or down to the nearest five.

  2. Numbers may not sum to totals as a result of this rounding.

  3. Direct comparisons between the figures 2007-08 and those for previous academic years cannot be made due to an improvement to the method of collating college data. This removed 175 duplicate cases from the total number of students supported in the £10 and £20 categories in 2007-08.

Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-20037 by Fiona Hyslop on 29 January 2009, how much would be saved by abolishing the £150 bonus payment for people in receipt of an Educational Maintenance Allowance of (a) £10 and (b) £20.

Fiona Hyslop: Assuming that the amounts paid out in bonus payments to those in the £10 and £20 categories in future years would be the same as in 2007-08, we estimate that the resources released by removing the bonus payments for students supported in these categories would be £0.7 million and £0.8 million respectively.

Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in receipt of an Education Maintenance Allowance of (a) £10 and (b) £20 received the £150 bonus payment in each of the last three years.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table presents the number of school pupils and further education college students who were supported in the £10 and £20 categories of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme and who received bonus payments in academic years 2005-06 to 2007-08.

  

 Level of Payment
 Academic Year


 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08


 Number of Students


£10
 3,065
 2,945
 2,920


£20
 2,975
 3,200
 3,385


 Total (£10 and £20)
 6,040
 6,145
 6,310



  Notes:

  1. Student numbers have been rounded up or down to the nearest five.

  2. Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding.

  3. Direct comparisons between the figures 2007-08 and those for previous academic years cannot be made due to an improvement to the method of collating college data. This removed 75 duplicate cases from the total number of bonus recipients in the £10 and £20 categories in 2007-08.

Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many further education students it estimates to have dependent children.

Fiona Hyslop: This information is not held centrally.

Education

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs are likely to be created or secured as a result of its budget spending in 2009.

John Swinney: The public sector is a vital part of the Scottish economy, providing key services including health, education and transport which have an important impact on Scotland’s economic competitiveness. In delivering these services the public sector employs 576,000 people directly and supports further employment in the private sector through the purchase of goods and services.

  The £1.8 billion in additional funding and accelerated capital spend provided by the 2009-10 Scottish Government budget is estimated to support around 35,000 jobs in total over the next 12 months in Scotland.

Education

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to be able to announce details of the Chinese summer school being negotiated with the Chinese authorities by Learning and Teaching Scotland and British Council Scotland.

Fiona Hyslop: The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning announced on Friday 20 February that a study visit for 51 pupils and nine teachers from Scottish schools will take place this summer. The visit will last for about two and a half weeks and involve pupils in 30 hours of immersion language training plus other cultural and learning activities. Participants will be drawn from schools actively involved in the eight Confucius Classroom hubs being launched before Easter. Funding support will be provided by the Scottish Government and by the Hanban (the Office of the Chinese Council International). Further details will be announced in due course.

  A copy of the press release is available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/02/20104349.

Education

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of school children in each local authority area in the west of Scotland attended an independent (a) primary and (b) secondary school each year since 1997.

Fiona Hyslop: This information is not collected centrally.

  Figures for the number of pupils in independent schools are published each year on the government website at the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PubIndSchoolCensus.

  However, since pupils attend independent schools outwith their area and information on the location of residence of pupil in independent schools is not collected, the requested information is not available.

Employment

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people received a Get Ready for Work payment in the last three years, broken down by payment amount.

Fiona Hyslop: This information is not captured centrally.

  The Scottish Government have however obtained the following from Skills Development Scotland on the programme costs and the number of individuals involved in the Get Ready for Work (GRfW) programme over the last three years.

  Young people on full time provision receive £55 per week and those on part time provision receive £45 per week, depending on hours of participation.

  Table 1 Get Ready for Work, Starts, Allowances and Spend by Financial Year

  

 Year
 No. of Starts
Allowance Costs GRfW 
£ Million
Allowance CostsL/Skills (F-T)   £ Million
Allowance Costs L/Skills (P-T)   £ Million
Total Allowance Costs £ Million
Total Spend Including Programme costs 
£ Million


 2007-08
 9,274
 8.5
 503,972
 347,436
 9.4
 23.7


 2006-07
 8,847
 7.9
 435,285
 300,612
 8.7
 21.5


 2005-06
 8,422
 8.3
 427,666
 243,881
 9.0
 22.1

Enterprise

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many business start-ups there were in each year since 1997 and what information it has on such figures for the United Kingdom.

Jim Mather: Data on the number of VAT registrations are released annually by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). These figures are used to monitor the number of business start-ups. The latest available data refers to all VAT registrations taking place in the UK in 2007.

  The following table shows the number of VAT registrations in Scotland and the UK as a whole from 1997 to 2007:

  

 
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002


 Scotland
 12,305
 11,740
 11,330
 11,200
 10,855
 11,045


 UK
 181,530
 180,740
 175,615
 177,770
 169,230
 176,205



  

 
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007


 Scotland
 11,940
 11,985
 11,660
 11,755
 14,595


 UK
 191,535
 184,010
 182,380
 182,055
 205,725



  Source: BERR.

  Please note that these figures do not account for all business activity as only companies with a turnover above the VAT threshold are required to register.

Enterprise

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the workforce was employed in the public sector in each year since 1997 and what information it has on such figures for the United Kingdom.

John Swinney: The official source for public sector employment statistics is the Quarterly Public Sector Employment series. Estimates for Scotland are published by the Scottish Government and UK estimates are published by the Office for National Statistics. Table 1 shows the proportion of the workforce employed in the public sector in Scotland and the UK from quarter 1 1999 to quarter 3 2008 (the latest data available). A consistent time series for Scotland and the UK is only available back to 1999.

  Table 1: Public Sector Employment as % of Total Employment, Scotland and UK, 1999-2008. Not Seasonally Adjusted (Head Count)

  

 
 Scotland
 UK


 %
 %


 1999 Q1
 23.1
 19.3


 1999 Q2
 23.1
 19.2


 1999 Q3
 22.8
 19.0


 1999 Q4
 23.1
 19.3


 2000 Q1
 23.2
 19.3


 2000 Q2
 22.7
 19.2


 2000 Q3
 22.5
 19.1


 2000 Q4
 22.5
 19.3


 2001 Q1
 22.7
 19.4


 2001 Q2
 22.7
 19.4


 2001 Q3
 22.7
 19.2


 2001 Q4
 23.1
 19.6


 2002 Q1
 23.2
 19.7


 2002 Q2
 23.2
 19.6


 2002 Q3
 23.0
 19.5


 2002 Q4
 23.0
 19.9


 2003 Q1
 23.0
 20.0


 2003 Q2
 23.1
 20.0


 2003 Q3
 23.1
 19.9


 2003 Q4
 23.4
 20.2


 2004 Q1
 23.4
 20.3


 2004 Q2
 23.3
 20.2


 2004 Q3
 23.3
 20.1


 2004 Q4
 23.5
 20.3


 2005 Q1
 23.6
 20.4


 2005 Q2
 23.7
 20.3


 2005 Q3
 23.6
 20.1


 2005 Q4
 23.7
 20.3


 2006 Q1
 23.7
 20.2


 2006 Q2
 23.7
 20.0


 2006 Q3
 23.3
 19.8


 2006 Q4
 23.0
 19.9


 2007 Q1
 22.9
 19.9


 2007 Q2
 22.7
 19.7


 2007 Q3
 22.5
 19.5


 2007 Q4
 22.7
 19.6


 2008 Q1
 22.6
 19.5


 2008 Q2
 22.7
 19.5


 2008 Q3
 22.6
 19.5



  Source: Quarterly Public Sector Employment Series; Scottish Government, Office for National Statistics.

  Note: Data are not seasonally adjusted and therefore comparisons between years should only be made for the same quarter.

Enterprise

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the business survival rate is and what information it has on such figures for the United Kingdom.

Jim Mather: Data on the survival rate of businesses are released annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The latest available data refers to the one-year survival rate of all newly-born enterprises in 2006. However, the two, three, four and five-year survival rates are also available.

  Table 1 One-Year to Five-Year Survival Rate of Newly-Born Enterprises in Scotland by Year of Birth, 2002-06

  

 
 Year of Birth


 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 One-year
 93.8%
 93.2%
 94.2%
 93.4%
 96.5%


 Two-year
 80.3%
 78.3%
 77.8%
 77.4%
 -


 Three-year
 63.6%
 63.4%
 64.3%
 -
 -


 Four-year
 52.6%
 54.0%
 -
 -
 -


 Five-year
 45.6%
 -
 -
 -
 -



  Table 2 One-Year to Five-Year Survival Rate of Newly-Born Enterprises in the UK by Year of Birth, 2002-06

  

 
 Year of Birth


 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 One-year
 92.9%
 92.6%
 94.2%
 94.3%
 96.5%


 Two-year
 79.3%
 78.0%
 78.7%
 79.8%
 -


 Three-year
 62.9%
 63.6%
 65.3%
 -
 -


 Four-year
 51.9%
 54.3%
 -
 -
 -


 Five-year
 44.9%
 -
 -
 -
 -



  UK business survival rates are available from one-year to five-year in greater geographical and industrial detail via the following link http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=15186.

Fiscal Autonomy

Gil Paterson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a paper examining options for fiscal autonomy in Scotland.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government will outline and assess the range of options for fiscal autonomy in its paper Fiscal Autonomy in Scotland: The Case for Change and Options for Reform .

  The paper will be published today and will be available to download from the Scottish Government website. A copy will also be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47728).

Fish

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce legislation to enforce the tagging of all commercially caught salmon carcasses.

Richard Lochhead: There are currently no plans to legislate to introduce carcass tagging of commercially caught salmon.

Further and Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the £13 million of accelerated capital spend for further and higher education in 2009-10 will be distributed and which capital projects will benefit.

Fiona Hyslop: The £13 million of accelerated capital spend for further and higher education will be used to benefit projects across Scotland in 2009-10, helping to accelerate investment which would not otherwise have taken place until 2010-11. Further details of the specific projects which will benefit will be made available once the Scottish Funding Council has determined the basis on which the funding will be distributed in 2009-10, in collaboration with the institutions which it funds.

Health

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that NHS bodies comply with Scottish Government Health Directorate design policy.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government Health Directorates have conducted a review of the implementation of the Design Quality Policy in November 2008. Issues arising from that review are currently being followed up with NHS boards.

  As part of the performance management arrangements established under the terms of a revised Asset Management Policy from end of May 2009, NHS boards require to demonstrate compliance with the Design Quality Policy.

Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of students entering higher education represents those from (a) low-participation neighbourhoods, (b) non-traditional backgrounds and (c) low socio-economic classification groups for each of the last five years and when updated statistics will be published.

Fiona Hyslop: The Higher Education Statistics Agency annually publishes higher education performance indicators for all higher education institutions in the UK, including participation rates of students from low participation neighbourhoods and from low socio-economic classification groups. The most recently published performance indicators relate to the academic year 2006-07.

  HESA’s participation of under-represented groups performance indicators can be found at:

  http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/view/1174/141/.

  There is no clearly defined measure of students from non-traditional backgrounds, though these are usually assumed to mean students from low socio-economic groups.

Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time higher education students it estimates have dependent children.

Fiona Hyslop: The Annual Population Survey (APS) collects information on household composition and qualifications being studied by people in the household. The estimated number of full-time students studying for qualifications at the higher education level who have dependent children was 14,000 for the year July 2007 to June 2008.

Higher Education

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time university students in (a) Dundee City and (b) Angus council areas have been in receipt of bursaries in each of the last three years.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table presents the number of full-time university students domiciled in Dundee City and Angus local authority areas who were in receipt of bursary support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic years 2005-06 to 2007-08. The total number of Scottish domiciled full-time university students in receipt of bursaries in each academic year is also shown.

  Number of Full-Time University Students Receiving Bursary Support

  

 Local Authority
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08


 Angus
 1,055
 1,020
 1,020


 Dundee City
 1,350
 1,380
 1,355


 Scotland
 42,810
 43,030
 42,790



  Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS).

  Student numbers have been rounded up or down to the nearest five.

  Students who come under the Nursing and Midwifery Students Bursary Scheme are not included in the table.

Homecoming Scotland

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its target for tourism revenue in 2009 is (a) as part of reaching the target of a 50% increase in tourism revenues by 2015 and (b) directly as a result of Homecoming Scotland 2009.

Jim Mather: The shared ambition with the tourism industry to increase tourism revenues by 50% by 2015 has not been broken down on a year-by-year basis so there is no specific target for 2009. For Homecoming, the target in 2009 is to achieve an 8:1 return on the core £5 million funding (i.e. £40 million tourism revenue).

Housing

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the slowdown in house building will have on the house building plans associated with the Borders railway project.

Stewart Stevenson: The slow down in house building is having a short-term impact along the route of the Borders railway project, for example through the recent withdrawal of a developer from the housing project consortium at Shawfair in Midlothian. However, the Borders railway project has been appraised over a sixty year operational life, and it is anticipated that housing development will resume along the route in the medium-term, and indeed that the construction of the railway will contribute to this resumption.

NHS Finance

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when measures will be introduced requiring NHS bodies to specify build and design quality in capital projects.

Nicola Sturgeon: The existing Design Quality Policy for NHSScotland already requires NHSScotland bodies to specify build and design quality in capital projects through the use of tools such as Achieving Excellence Design Evaluation Toolkit (AEDET) and BREEAM Healthcare as a basis for assessing sustainability in health projects.

  The Scottish Government Health Directorates has a Framework Agreement in place with Architecture and Design Scotland for the provision of Design Review, enabling support for NHS Boards and the provision of advice and guidance on design related matters for NHS Boards.

  Work is in hand to consider how design quality can be embedded within the Scottish Government Health Directorates business case approval processes through the further development of the Scottish Capital Investment Manual for NHSScotland and the involvement of appropriate design experts within the business case approvals process.

NHS Finance

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that all NHS bodies have a specific strategy for addressing maintenance backlog.

Nicola Sturgeon: The terms of the revised asset management policy will require all NHS boards to demonstrate how they are addressing backlog maintenance through both direct maintenance and the replacement of facilities.

NHS Procurement

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve those parts of the NHS estate described as in serious risk of imminent breakdown in the Audit Scotland report, Asset Management in the NHS in Scotland .

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government will require NHS boards to identify appropriate strategies and actions to address those areas identified as a "serious risk of imminent breakdown" as part of their overall estate management arrangements.

NHS Properties

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve the NHS estate, given the finding in the Audit Scotland report, Asset Management in the NHS in Scotland , that the NHS estate is not sufficiently accessible for disabled people.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is investing £1.676 billion of capital resources into NHSScotland over the Spending Review 2007 period to improve infrastructure.

  Asset management strategies prepared by NHS boards will require to demonstrate the strategies and actions employed to address statutory compliance issues including those relating to access for disabled people.

NHS Properties

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that the results of the five-yearly estate surveys carried out by NHS bodies are collated and analysed centrally to ensure that an accurate assessment is made of the entire NHS estate.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that NHS bodies provide a breakdown of expenditure on planned and reactive maintenance.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that NHS bodies review their performance management arrangements and develop performance measures and targets in relation to their assets.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-20499 on 23 February 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

NHS Properties

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that NHS bodies meet good practice guidelines that suggest that maintenance costs should be 60% planned and 40% reactive.

Nicola Sturgeon: The terms of the revised Asset Management policy will require the separation of planned and reactive maintenance. In addition NHS boards will be required to demonstrate how they are addressing backlog maintenance through replacement of facilities.

NHS Staff

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its press release of 14 October 2008, how many senior charge nurses are operating within the senior charge nurse framework.

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior staff charge nurses it expects to be operating within the senior charge nurse framework in (a) six months’, (b) 12 months’ and (c) 18 months’ time.

Nicola Sturgeon: All senior charge nurses (SCN) in hospitals across NHS Scotland will be working within the context of this revised role by the end of 2010. At present, around 700 SCNs have either completed or are undertaking training, which includes one to one facilitation, taught training programmes and action learning. Whilst this process is at an early stage, we are putting in place arrangements to monitor NHS board progress.

  The transition of SCNs to the revised role is being led by NHS board nurse Directors, supported by a national steering group. The success of embedding and sustaining the role change depends on a range of factors and all NHS boards have produced action plans to work towards achieving this goal. Work currently underway includes analysis of training needs, development and implementation of training programmes, and development of roll-out programmes.

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many post project reviews have been carried out by each NHS board in accordance with the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of post project reviews carried out by each NHS board in accordance with the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual in each of the last five years is set out in the following table:

  

 NHS Board
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08
 2008-09


 Ayrshire and Arran
 3
 1
 0
 2
 2


 Borders
 0
 0
 0
 1
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 0
 1
 0
 2


 Fife
 1
 0
 0
 0
 2


 Grampian
 0
 0
 2
 0
 0


 Forth Valley
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 0
 0
 0
 1
 2


 Highland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Lanarkshire
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Lothian
 1
 5
 0
 1
 1


 Orkney
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Shetland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1


 Tayside
 0
 0
 3
 0
 4


 Western Isles
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 National Services Scotland
 0
 1
 0
 1
 6


 Scottish Ambulance Service
 2
 1
 0
 2
 0


 The State Hospital
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Golden Jubilee National Hospital 
 0
 0
 0
 0
 1


 NHS 24
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 NHS Education for Scotland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Mental Welfare Commission
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Quality Improvement Scotland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 NHS Health Scotland
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0


 Total
 8
 8
 6
 8
 21

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will require NHS bodies to examine their estate workforce profiles and identify future capacity issues.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards currently undertake the planning of their service requirements to meet the health care needs of their population. This includes planning the future workforce to deliver these services. For the first time this year, boards have been asked to include in their local delivery plans a summary of any particular workforce issues they expect to face. If there are any issues within boards in relation to any part of the workforce, including estates we would expect to see this reflected in their local delivery plans.

Planning

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which projects contained in the Strategic Transport Projects Review are designated national developments in the National Planning Framework for Scotland 2 and for what reasons they were given this designation.

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which projects contained in the Strategic Transport Projects Review are not designated national developments in the National Planning Framework for Scotland 2 and for what reasons they were not given this designation.

Stewart Stevenson: The two projects identified in the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) which are also designated as national developments in the Proposed National Planning Framework 2 are: The Forth Replacement Crossing and the West of Scotland Strategic Rail Enhancements.

  There are a number of STPR projects that that support other national developments in the Proposed National Planning Framework 2 (NPF2). These projects, along with the remaining projects identified as part of the STPR recommendations can be found in Report 4 on the Transport Scotland website:

  http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/stpr.

  Details of the assessment of candidate national developments against the criteria which the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth announced to Parliament in his statement on 13 September 2007 can be found on the Government’s website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/01/13143421/0.

  Statements of need in respect of each of the national developments are set out in the Annex to the Proposed NPF2 which is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (laying number, SG/2008/252).

  The STPR has been undertaken to identify priorities for Government spending on transport infrastructure over the next 20 years, whereas the Proposed NPF 2 is concerned with Scotland’s spatial development in general. While the focus of the two exercises is different, they are components of a single strategic agenda.

Police

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will roll out data-enabled breath screening devices to all police forces and, if so, to what timescale.

Kenny MacAskill: It is the responsibility of the Chief Constables to decide what technology to use for police operations. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is currently considering the introduction of data enabled breath screening devices as well as the IT and training issues associated with the use of the devices. A timetable for a decision has not yet been set.

Police

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision on the roll-out of data-enabled breath screening devices to all police forces.

Kenny MacAskill: It is the responsibility of the Chief Constables to decide what technology to use for police operations. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is currently considering the introduction of data enabled breath screening devices as well as the IT and training issues associated with the use of the devices.

Police

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much a single data-enabled breath screening device costs.

Kenny MacAskill: The cost of a data enabled breath screening device is approximately £150.

Police

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many days were lost in the Scottish Police Service through sickness absence in each year since 1999, broken down by police force.

Kenny MacAskill: Police working days lost due to sickness absence 1999-2000 to 2007-08

  

 Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08


 Central
 8,673
 9,869
 8,944
 9,592
 9,807
 7,596
 5,959
 7,357
 5,881


 Dumfries and Galloway
 3,413
 3,687
 3,052
 2,598
 4,532
 3,952
 3,596
 3,315
 3,707


 Fife
 8,818
 7,920
 9,804
 8,870
 9,044
 10,341
 9,427
 11,454
 9,715


 Grampian
 7,522
 7,035
 7,561
 10,519
 11,742
 11,075
 10,295
 11,629
 10,548


 Lothian and Borders
 30,624
 32,222
 30,840
 33,967
 34,168
 28,845
 31,227
 31,239
 30,822


 Northern
 6,234
 5,436
 6,095
 6,213
 6,789
 6,439
 7,908
 8,595
 7,203


 Strathclyde
 88,017
 76,113
 79,542
 82,037
 83,153
 73,221
 73,389
 81,788
 81,716


 Tayside
 16,246
 16,003
 14,910
 13,893
 12,543
 12,019
 11,870
 12,749
 11,832


 Scotland
 169,547
 158,285
 160,748
 167,689
 171,778
 153,488
 153,671
 168,126
 161,424



  Sources:

  1999-2000 to 2001-02 police force annual statistical returns to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland.

  2002-03 to 2006-07 Audit Scotland.

  2007-08 Scottish Police Performance Framework collection.

  Note: Days lost refer to police officers and do not include support staff.

Prison Service

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners are held at HMP Aberdeen.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  As of 18 February 2009, there were 224 males held in HMP Aberdeen. There were no female prisoners. The male population was made up of 84 Remand and 140 Convicted prisoners.

Prison Service

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners were held at HMP Aberdeen in August 2007.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  There were no females prisoners held in HMP Aberdeen during August 2007. There were an average of 92 Adult Male Remand, 15 Young Adult Male Remand, 130 Adult Male Convicted and three Young Adult Male Convicted prisoners held during that month.

Scottish Funding Council

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on the city centre estate of the New Campus Glasgow project since 2000, also broken down into budget headings.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what allocation has been made by the Scottish Funding Council for the development of the New Campus Glasgow project.

Fiona Hyslop: The funding of the New Campus Glasgow project is a matter for the Scottish Funding Council and the colleges concerned. I have asked the Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council to write to the Member.

Scottish Funding Council

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale that ministers have set for completion of the New Campus Glasgow project.

Fiona Hyslop: The timescale for the project is a matter for the Scottish Funding Council and the colleges concerned. I have asked the Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council to write to the Member.

Scottish Funding Council

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when ministers last met the Scottish Funding Council to discuss the New Campus Glasgow project.

Fiona Hyslop: Ministers met senior officials of the Scottish Funding Council on 10 February 2009 to discuss the New Campus Glasgow project.

Sex Offenders

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners are held at HMP Peterhead and how many of these are serious sex offenders.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  On 18 February 2009 the population of HMP Peterhead was 304, all of whom were sex offenders. There is no technical definition of "serious" sex offenders however, given that the sentence length imposed by the Court is likely to be commensurate with the gravity of the offence, the breakdown of sentence categories can be provided.

  The following table illustrates the sentence categories for the population of HMP Peterhead as of February 18 2009. Life Recalls are included in the Life sentence total (3).

  

Sentence Category (Years)
 Total


 0 - 1
 1


 1 - 2
 5


 2 - 4
 13


 4 - 10
 176


 10 +
 41


 Life
 58

Sex Offenders

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were held at HMP Peterhead in August 2007 and how many of these were serious sex offenders.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  On 1 August 2007 the population of HMP Peterhead was 306, all of whom were sex offenders. There is no technical definition of "serious" sex offenders however, given that the sentence length imposed by the Court is likely to be commensurate with the gravity of the offence, the breakdown of sentence categories can be provided.

  The following table illustrates the sentence categories for the population of HMP Peterhead as of 1 August 2007. Life Recalls are included in the Life sentence total (5).

  

Sentence Category (Years)
 Total


 0 - 1
 3


 1 - 2
 2


 2 - 4
 18


 4 - 10
 165


 10 +
 42


 Life
 76

Student Finance

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount was of interest accrued by Scotland domiciled and resident students in student loan debt in each of the last five years, broken down by interest accrued (a) while studying and (b) following graduation.

Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the total amount of interest accrued by Scottish domiciled and resident students in student loan debt in each of the last five financial years broken down by interest accrued (a) while studying and (b) following graduation or withdrawal.

  

 Financial Year
Interest Added Following Graduation or Withdrawal (£ Million)
Interest Added whilst Studying (£ Million)
Total Interest Added 
(£ Million)


 2003-04
 9.70
 14.01
 23.70


 2004-05
 13.34
 15.87
 29.21


 2005-06
 20.39
 15.98
 36.37


 2006-07
 27.95
 13.55
 41.50


 2007-08
 25.51
 17.73
 43.24


 Total
 96.88
 77.14
 174.03



  Source: Student Loans Company (SLC).

  Notes:

  Monetary amounts have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are quoted in millions.

  "Scotland domiciled and resident" is taken as those who took out loans which are owed back to Scotland.

  "Interest accrued (a) while studying and (b) following graduation" is interpreted as (a) before the Statutory Repayment Due Date (SRDD) and (b) after the SRDD.

  The SLC does not apply interest to the accounts of income contingent loan borrowers who have entered repayment until they have received notice of the amounts of repayments collected from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). For most cases this occurs within one year of the tax year that the repayments relate to, interest is then applied retrospectively to the accounts.

Student Finance

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the impact of the recent changes to Student Awards Agency for Scotland income assessed funding, related to the income of step-parents, introduced during the academic year 2008-09.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has plans to undertake analysis which will look at the support received by those who have declared the income of a step-parent relative to what they would have received if such an income was not taken into consideration.

Tourism

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional tourism revenue was achieved in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008 as part of reaching the target of a 50% increase in tourism revenues by 2015.

Jim Mather: Data from the Office of National Statistics records that tourism revenue (expenditure) in Scotland was (a) £4.159 billion in 2006 and (b) £4.203 billion in 2007. Data for 2008 is not yet available.

Tourism

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for additional tourism revenue for each of the next three years as part of reaching the target of a 50% increase in tourism revenues by 2015.

Jim Mather: The shared ambition with the tourism industry to increase tourism revenues by 50% by 2015 has not been broken down on a year-by-year basis so there are no specific targets for each of the next three years.

Tourism

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many adult modern apprenticeship in tourism places were taken up in each of the last five years.

Fiona Hyslop: Tourism is one pathway within the hospitality modern apprenticeship framework.

  The numbers of adults (aged 20 and above) starting the hospitality modern apprenticeship framework for the last five years are as follows:

  

 2004-05
 1,234


 2005-06
 1,079


 2006-07
 851


 2007-08
 735


2008-09 (to end January 2009)
 0

Tourism

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many adult modern apprenticeship in tourism places were completed in each of the last five years.

Fiona Hyslop: Tourism is one pathway within the Hospitality Modern Apprenticeship framework.

  The numbers of adults (aged 20 and above) completing the Hospitality Modern Apprenticeship framework for the last five years are as follows:

  

 2004-05
 452


 2005-06
 567


 2006-07
 638


 2007-08
 615


2008-09 (to end January 2009)
 328

Tourism

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeship in tourism places were taken up in each of the last five years.

Fiona Hyslop: Tourism is one pathway within the hospitality modern apprenticeship framework.

  The numbers starting the hospitality modern apprenticeship framework for the last five years are as follows:

  

 2004-05
 1,670


 2005-06
 1,416


 2006-07
 1,096


 2007-08
 1,015


2008-09 (to end January 2009)
 271

Tourism

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeship in tourism places were completed in each of the last five years.

Fiona Hyslop: Tourism is one pathway within the Hospitality Modern Apprenticeship framework.

  The numbers completing the hospitality modern apprenticeship framework for the last five years are as follows:

  

 2004-05
 562


 2005-06
 729


 2006-07
 804


 2007-08
 805


2008-09(to end January 2009)
 457

Transport

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19420 by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2009, how much of the £100 to £250 million estimate for the delivery of the package of measures within project 22 of the Strategic Transport Projects Review relates to the delivery of the proposed upgrading of the Dalry bypass.

Stewart Stevenson: The costs for the delivery of the package of measures within project 22 reflect the likely range of funding required to deliver this intervention. These costs will be refined as the more detailed design and development work associated with each of these measures moves forward with the aim of reaching a final estimate.

Transport

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will prioritise the infrastructure projects required to enable the national developments, in particular the upgrading of road and rail connections serving Grangemouth and Rosyth, as proposed in the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18930 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .